Firm fined £1m after worker killed by exploding tyre

A tyre company has been sentenced for safety failings after a 21-year-old employee was killed when a tyre exploded.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how Matthew Hoare, who worked for Watling Tyre Service in Kent, was repairing a puncture to the tyre of a ‘dresser loading shovel’ when it exploded.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Hoare was working on his own with inadequate work equipment which was not properly maintained. He was not trained or competent to undertake the work he was told to complete.

After the hearing, HSE principal inspector Mike Walters said: “Employees need to be provided with properly maintained equipment and the correct equipment to undertake tasks whilst out on site. Employees also need to be trained and competent in the tasks they were asked to undertake.”

Watling Tyre Service pleaded guilty at a previous hearing on January 29, 2016, to breaches of Section 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. It was fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of £99,485.